ITBA

MODULE 1:
CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

2. FUNDAMENTALS

3. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

4. COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

5. SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE

6. GENERATIONS OF A COMPUTER

7. TYPES OF SOFTWARE IN DETAIL

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS:

What is a computer?

A computer is a programmable machine that receives

input, stores and manipulates data and provides output in
a useful format.
Or

A computer is an electronic device that executes the instructions in a

program.

A computer has four functions:

a. accepts data Input

Processin
b. processes g
data

c. produces
output Output
The Information
Processing Cycle
d. stores
results Storage

Advantages of a computer:

• The potential advantages for using a computer depend

closely on the intended use.

For writing:

Quick entry

Easy to edit and restructure

Many tools to produce various kinds of output (html, text,
books, pdf documents, etc.)

Storage is inexpensive and doesn't take up much space.

Easy to search/navigate through documents.

For organization

Easy Storage and Once a document is in electronic form it

is easy to store and many, many documents can be stored
on one computer in much less space than in a file cabinet.

Easy to search

For programming

Most programming requires the use of computers

There are many, many tools available to programmers

such as:

Editors: CodeWrite, SlickEdit, VIM, EMACS, Notepad,

BBEdit...

Compilers: MSVC, Sun javac, GNU Compiler Collection

(java, fortran, C, C++, and more), Intel C Compiler...

Assemblers: NASM, MASM, TASM...

Interpreters: Ruby, Python, Lisp, Perl, bash, and countless

others

For Research:

Access to the Internet has become invaluable as a

research tool

Easily gather huge amounts of information and

store/catalog it
Easily search for new information or search the
information already acquired

Interact with other researchers to create/gather more

research

Almost instant access to many remote or obscure

locations of the globe and their
researchers/experiences/knowledge.

Easily disseminate results of your own research.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERS:

• The first counting device was the abacus, originally from Asia.
It worked on a place-value notion meaning that the place of a
bead or rock on the apparatus determined how much it was
worth.

ABACUS

• 1600 : John Napier discovers logarithms. Robert Bissaker

invents the slide rule.

• 1642 : Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and philosopher,

invents the first mechanical digital calculator using gears, called
the Pascaline. Although this machine could perform addition and
subtraction on whole numbers, it was too expensive and only
Pascal himself could repair it.
 PASCALINE

• 1804 : Joseph Marie Jacquard used punch cards to automate a

weaving loom.

A PUNCH CARD COMPUTER

• 1812 : Charles P. Babbage, the "father of the computer",

discovered that many long calculations involved many similar,
repeated operations. Therefore, he designed a machine, the
difference engine which would be steam-powered, fully automatic
and commanded by a fixed instruction program. In 1833,
Babbage quit working on this machine to concentrate on the
analytical engine.

Babbage’s Difference engine

• 1840s: Augusta Ada. "The first programmer" suggested that a

binary system(0,1) should be used for storage rather than a
decimal system(0-9).

• 1850s : George Boole developed Boolean logic which would

later be used in the design of computer circuitry.

• 1890: Dr. Herman Hollerith introduced the first

electromechanical, punched-card data-processing machine which
was used to compile information for the 1890 U.S. census.
Hollerith's tabulator became so successful that he started his own
business to market it. His company would eventually become
International Business Machines (IBM).

• 1906 : The vacuum tube is invented by American physicist Lee

De Forest.
A Vacuum Tube:

• 1939 : Dr. John V. Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry build
the first electronic digital computer. Their machine, the Atanasoff-
Berry-Computer (ABC) provided the foundation for the advances
in electronic digital computers.

• 1941 : Konrad Zuse (recently deceased in January of 1996),

from Germany, introduced the first programmable computer
designed to solve complex engineering equations. This machine,
called the Z3, was also the first to work on the binary system
instead of the decimal system.

• 1943 : British mathematicians Alan Turing developped

hypothetical devices, the Turing machine which would be
designed to perform logical operation and could read and write. It
would presage programmable computers. He also used vacuum
technology to build British Colossus, a machine used to
counteract the German code scrambling device, Enigma.

• 1944 : Howard Aiken, in collaboration with engineers from IBM,

constructed a large automatic digital sequence-controlled
computer called the Harvard Mark I. This computer could handle
all four arithmetic operations, and had special built-in programs
for logarithms and trigonometric functions.

• 1945 : Dr. John von Neumann presented a paper outlining the

stored-program concept.

• 1947 : The giant ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and

Calculator) machine was developed by John W. Mauchly and J.
Presper Eckert, Jr. at the University of Pennsylvania. It used 18,
000 vacuums, punch-card input, weighed thirty tons and occupied
a thirty-by-fifty-foot space. It wasn't programmable but was
productive from 1946 to 1955 and was used to compute artillery
firing tables. That same year, the transistor was invented by
William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Labs. It
would rid computers of vacuum tubes and radios.

ENIAC

• 1949 : Maurice V. Wilkes built the EDSAC (Electronic Delay

Storage Automatic Computer), the first stored-program computer.
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), the
second stored-program computer was built by Mauchly, Eckert,
and von Neumann. A Wang developed magnetic-core memory
which Jay Forrester would reorganize to be more efficient.
 EDSAC

• 1950 : Turing built the ACE, considered by some to be the first

programmable digital computer.

COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE:
Control flow:

• Any input given through the input devices will firstly

enter the Control unit and will be stored for temporary
usage by the registers.

• It then goes through the Arithmetic Logic Unit(ALU) for

processing and will be stored in the memory(RAM).

• Finally, the processed and stored data will be displayed

back to the user by an output device.

Input devices:
Any hardware peripheral used to provide data and control
signals to an information processing system such as
computer is called as an input device.

An input device acts as an interface between a computer

and a user.

Examples: Mouse, Keyboard, Joysticks, touch screens,

webcams, Microphones etc.

 Mouse:

A Mouse is used for navigation through the monitor screen

and it makes facilitates the usage of the computer.

Types of Mouse:

1.Ball Mouse(tracks with a ball)

2.Laser Mouse(uses laser transmission)

3.Optical Mouse(uses optical transmission)

Advantages of a mouse:

A mouse works very well for navigating a graphical user

interface, such as Windows or Mac. With additional
buttons and a scroll wheel, increasingly complex functions
can be done from a mouse. These include opening, closing
and minimizing software; grouping, moving and deleting
files; and even image editing with software like
Photoshop. In my experience, a mouse is better for fine
movements and adjustments than most of the
alternatives.

Threats:

Motion controller.

 Keyboards:

These are the default input devices. A 'keyboard' is a

human interface device which is represented as a layout
of buttons. Each button, or key, can be used to either
input a linguistic character to a computer, or to call upon
a particular function of the computer. Traditional
keyboards use spring-based buttons, though newer
variations employ virtual keys, or even projected
keyboards.
Types of keyboards:

1.Wireless keyboards

2.Wired keyboards

 Wireless Keyboards

The wireless keyboards use three basic types of

connections, viz.

• Bluetooth Keyboards

• Infrared (IR) Keyboards

• Radio Frequency Keyboards

 Wired keyboards:

The PS/2 and USB are the two wired connections that
connect the keyboards to your desktop computers. The
PS/2 keyboards are very commonly used and they are
called so because they use the PS/2 connection. They
are one of the cheapest keyboards that are available in
the market. The USB keyboards use a USB (Universal
Serial Bus) to connect to the CPU. The PS/2 and USB
keyboards are usually plug and play. Other types of
keyboards are a bit expensive and require expensive
software applications to be installed.

• Ergonomic Keyboards
 The ergonomic keyboards are designed considering the
ergonomic aspect of the keyboards. It is specially
designed as per the comfort of the hands and wrist of
the keyboard user. The ergonomic keyboards are
designed to prevent the carpal tunnel syndrome, which
causes numbness and tingling sensation in hands and
fingers after typing for a long duration. These
keyboards also help the keyboard user maintain a
comfortable position.

• Compact Keyboard

The sizes of keyboard goes on increasing, especially,

those of the ergonomic keyboards. The ergonomic
keyboards are designed bigger to accommodate many
keys that perform special functions. The compact
keyboards are slim and usually do not have the numeric
keypad that is present on the right side of the other
keyboards. Some compact keyboards even include a
rubber pad that can be used instead of the mice. These
keyboards are not very small in size, but offer
portability during travel and storage.
Different Types of Keyboards - Special Keyboards

• Internet Keyboards

The internet keyboards are designed to increase the

comfort level of the internet user. The internet
keyboards have hot-keys for the home page of the web
browser, inbox and the favorites menu on your
computer.

• Multimedia and Gaming Keyboards

The multimedia and gaming keyboards are designed for

playing audio and has hot-keys for volume control, play,
stop and mute operations. The gaming keyboards are
designed for the convenience of the gamers and these
types of keyboards provide the required controls on the
keyboards like backlighting.

Threats:

Touch screen and Virtual keyboards.

 Audio and video input devices:

They provide the audio and visual data to the cpu.

Examples: Webcam, digicam, microphones ,midi

keyboards etc.

 Control unit:

Control Unit Co-ordinates the input and output devices of

a computer system.

Functions of Control Unit:

A control unit can be described as a sort of circuitry that

supervises and controls the path of information that runs
over the processor and organizes the various activities of
those units that lie inside it.

• It carries out many tasks such as decoding, fetching,

handling the execution and finally storing the results.

• It controls the execution of instructions in a sequential

order.

• It guides the flow of data through the different parts of

the computer.

• It interprets the instructions.

• It regulates the time controls of the processor.

 Arithmetic Logic Unit(ALU):

Arithmetic logic unit is that part of the computer which

performs the different logic operations and arithmetic
calculations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. It is the high speed digital circuit that solves
calculations and does comparisons.

Functions of Arithmetic Logic Unit:

• Almost all the actions of the computer are done by it. It

gets its data from a certain computer memory called
processor register . After the data gets processed, its
results get stored in output registers of the arithmetic
logic unit .

• The arithmetic logic unit can perform integer arithmetic

operations like addition, subtraction, etc.

• It can also perform bitwise logic operations like AND,

OR, XOR, etc

 Registers:

In computer architecture, a processor register (or general

purpose register) is a small amount of storage available
on the CPU whose contents can be accessed more quickly
than storage available elsewhere. Typically, this
specialized storage is not considered part of the normal
memory range for the machine.
  Memory device:

Memo
ry

Random
access Read only (EEPROM)
memory(R memory(R
OM) ELECTRIC
AM)
ALLY
ERASE

STATIC DYNAMI PROGRA (EPROM)

RAM C RAM MMABLE
ROM ERASABLE
(SRAM) (DRAM) (PROM) PROM

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM):

Random Access Memory, RAM, also known as main memory or system

memory, is a term commonly used to describe the memory within a
computer. Unlike ROM, RAM is a volatile memory and requires power; if
power is lost, all data is also lost. Below is an example image of a
512MB DIMM memory stick.
Random access memory or RAM most commonly refers to
computer chips that temporarily store dynamic data to
enhance computer performance. By storing frequently
used or active files in random access memory, the
computer can access the data faster than if it to retrieve it
from the far-larger hard drive.

SRAM AND DRAM:

There are two types of Random Access Memory or RAM,

each has its own advantages and disadvantages compared
to the other. SRAM (Static RAM) and DRAM (Dynamic RAM)
holds data but in a different ways. DRAM requires the data
to be refreshed periodically in order to retain the data.

SRAM does not need to be refreshed as the transistors

inside would continue to hold the data as long as the
power supply is not cut off. This behavior leads to a few
advantages, not the least of which is the much faster
speed that data can be written and read.

One complication is the much higher power used by DRAM

memory, this difference is very significant in battery
powered devices. SRAM modules are also much simpler
compared to DRAM, which makes it easier for most people
to create an interface to access the memory.

Structurally, SRAM needs a lot more transistors in order to

store a certain amount of memory. A DRAM module only
needs a transistor and a capacitor for every bit of data
where SRAM needs 6 transistors.

Summary:

1. SRAM is static while DRAM is dynamic

2. SRAM is faster compared to DRAM

3. SRAM consumes less power than DRAM

4. SRAM uses more transistors per bit of memory

compared to DRAM

5. SRAM is more expensive than DRAM

6. Cheaper DRAM is used in main memory while SRAM is

commonly used in cache memory

READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM):

One major type of memory that is used in PCs is called

read-only memory, or ROM for short. ROM is a type of
memory that normally can only be read, as opposed to
RAM which can be both read and written.

There are two main reasons that read-only memory is

used for certain functions within the PC:

Permanence: The values stored in ROM are always there,

whether the power is on or not. A ROM can be removed
from the PC, stored for an indefinite period of time, and
then replaced, and the data it contains will still be there.
For this reason, it is called non-volatile storage. A hard
disk is also non-volatile, for the same reason, but regular
RAM is not.

Security: The fact that ROM cannot easily be modified

provides a measure of security against accidental (or
malicious) changes to its contents. You are not going to
find viruses infecting true ROMs, for example; it's just not
possible. (It's technically possible with erasable EPROMs,
though in practice never seen.)

Read-only memory is most commonly used to store

system-level programs that we want to have available to
the PC at all times. The most common example is the
system BIOS program, which is stored in a ROM called
(amazingly enough) the system BIOS ROM. Having this in a
permanent ROM means it is available when the power is
turned on so that the PC can use it to boot up the system.
Remember that when you first turn on the PC the system
memory is empty, so there has to be something for the PC
to use when it starts up.

TYPES OF ROM:

Programmable ROM (PROM):

This is a type of ROM that can be programmed using

special equipment; it can be written to, but only once. This
is useful for companies that make their own ROMs from
software they write, because when they change their code
they can create new PROMs without requiring expensive
equipment. This is similar to the way a CD-ROM recorder
works by letting you "burn" programs onto blanks once
and then letting you read from them many times. In fact,
programming a PROM is also called burning, just like
burning a CD-R, and it is comparable in terms of its
flexibility.

Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM):

An EPROM is a ROM that can be erased and

reprogrammed. A little glass window is installed in the top
of the ROM package, through which you can actually see
the chip that holds the memory. Ultraviolet light of a
specific frequency can be shined through this window for
a specified period of time, which will erase the EPROM and
allow it to be reprogrammed again. Obviously this is much
more useful than a regular PROM, but it does require the
erasing light. Continuing the "CD" analogy, this
technology is analogous to a reusable CD-RW.
Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM): The
next level of erasability is the EEPROM, which can be
erased under software control. This is the most flexible
type of ROM, and is now commonly used for holding BIOS
programs.

SECONDARY MEMORY DEVICES:

These are used for external storage.

Examples: CD’s, Floppy’s, DVD’s, Pen drives, Memory

cards etc.

Output devices:

They display the processed and stored data to the user.

These are Monitor, Printer, Scanner etc.

SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE:

SOFTWARE:

What most people think of as a computer can actually be

divided into two parts. The first part, computer hardware,
does all of the physical work computers are known for.
The second part, computer software, tells the hardware
what to do and how to do it. If you were to think of a
computer as a living being, then the hardware would be
the body that does things like seeing with eyes, lifting
objects, and filling the lungs with air; the software would
be the intelligence, interpreting the images that come
through the eyes, telling the arms how to lift objects etc.
Computer software is most commonly created by
computer programmers using a programming language.
The programmer writes commands in the programming
language that are similar to what someone might use in
everyday speech. These commands are called source code.
Another computer program called a compiler is then used
on the source code, transforming the commands into a
language that the computer can understand. The result is
an executable computer program, which is another name
for software.

Computer software falls into two primary categories:

System software and Application software.

System software represents programs that allow the

hardware to run properly. Application software represents
programs that allow users to do something besides simply
run the hardware. Some experts also include a third
category, programming software, though others put those
programs into one of the other previously mentioned
categories.

Hardware:

Everything you can see and touch in your PC is hardware.

Hardware is the physical interface of a computer on which
software runs.

It is tangible.

This following list represents a basic set of hardware

found in most PCs.

PC Case
Motherboard

Power Supply

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

Floppy Disk Drive (FDD)

Compact Disk Drive (CDD)

Digital Video Disk drive (DVD)

Monitors (CRT and LCD)

Keyboard

Mouse

Audio

Cables & Wires

Generations of Software:

Five Generations of Modern Computers

First Generation (1945-1956)

With the onset of the Second World War, governments

sought to develop computers to exploit their potential
strategic importance.

The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer

(ENIAC), produced by a partnership between the U.S.
government and the University of Pennsylvania.
Consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5
million soldered joints, the computer was such a massive
piece of machinery that it consumed 160 kilowatts of
electrical power, enough energy to dim the lights in an
entire section of Philadelphia. Developed by John Presper
Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980),
ENIAC, unlike the Colossus and Mark I, was a general-
purpose computer that computed at speeds 1,000 times
faster than Mark I.

ENIAC

Second Generation Computers (1956-1963)

By 1948, the invention of the transistor greatly changed

the computer's development. The transistor replaced the
large, cumbersome vacuum tube in televisions, radios and
computers. As a result, the size of electronic machinery
has been shrinking ever since. The transistor was at work
in the computer by 1956. Coupled with early advances in
magnetic-core memory, transistors led to second
generation computers that were smaller, faster, more
reliable and more energy-efficient than their
predecessors. The first large-scale machines to take
advantage of this transistor technology were early
supercomputers, Stretch by IBM and LARC by Sperry-
Rand. These computers, both developed for atomic energy
laboratories, could handle an enormous amount of data, a
capability much in demand by atomic scientists. The
machines were costly, however, and tended to be too
powerful for the business sector's computing needs,
thereby limiting their attractiveness.

Third Generation Computers (1964-1971):

Though transistors were clearly an improvement over the

vacuum tube, they still generated a great deal of heat,
which damaged the computer's sensitive internal parts.
The quartz rock eliminated this problem. Jack Kilby, an
engineer with Texas Instruments, developed the
integrated circuit (IC) in 1958. The IC combined three
electronic components onto a small silicon disc, which was
made from quartz. Scientists later managed to fit even
more components on a single chip, called a
semiconductor. As a result, computers became ever
smaller as more components were squeezed onto the chip.
Another third-generation development included the use of
an operating system that allowed machines to run many
different programs at once with a central program that
monitored and coordinated the computer's memory.

Fourth Generation (1971-Present)

After the integrated circuits, the only place to go was

down - in size, that is. Large scale integration (LSI) could
fit hundreds of components onto one chip. By the 1980's,
very large scale integration (VLSI) squeezed hundreds of
thousands of components onto a chip. Ultra-large scale
integration (ULSI) increased that number into the millions.
The ability to fit so much onto an area about half the size
of a U.S. dime helped diminish the size and price of
computers. It also increased their power, efficiency and
reliability. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, took
the integrated circuit one step further by locating all the
components of a computer (central processing unit,
memory, and input and output controls) on a minuscule
chip.

Such condensed power allowed everyday people to

harness a computer's power. They were no longer
developed exclusively for large business or government
contracts. By the mid-1970's, computer manufacturers
sought to bring computers to general consumers. These
minicomputers came complete with user-friendly software
packages that offered even non-technical users an array
of applications, most popularly word processing and
spreadsheet programs. Pioneers in this field were
Commodore, Radio Shack and Apple Computers.

In 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer (PC) for use

in the home, office and schools. The 1980's saw an
expansion in computer use in all three arenas as clones of
the IBM PC made the personal computer even more
affordable. The number of personal computers in use more
than doubled from 2 million in 1981 to 5.5 million in 1982.
Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being used.
Computers continued their trend toward a smaller size,
working their way down from desktop to laptop computers
(which could fit inside a briefcase) to palmtop (able to fit
inside a breast pocket). In direct competition with IBM's
PC was Apple's Macintosh line, introduced in 1984.

As smaller computers became more powerful, they could

be linked together, or networked, to share memory space,
software, information and communicate with each other.
As opposed to a mainframe computer, which was one
powerful computer that shared time with many terminals
for many applications, networked computers allowed
individual computers to form electronic co-ops. Using
either direct wiring, called a Local Area Network (LAN), or
telephone lines, these networks could reach enormous
proportions. A global web of computer circuitry, the
Internet, for example, links computers worldwide into a
single network of information.

Fifth Generation (Present and Beyond)

Defining the fifth generation of computers is somewhat

difficult because the field is in its infancy. The most
famous example of a fifth generation computer is the
fictional HAL9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's novel, 2001: A
Space Odyssey. HAL performed all of the functions
currently envisioned for real-life fifth generation
computers. With artificial intelligence, HAL could reason
well enough to hold conversations with its human
operators, use visual input, and learn from its own
experiences. (Unfortunately, HAL was a little too human
and had a psychotic breakdown, commandeering a
spaceship and killing most humans on board.)

Major Types of Software:

Programming Software: This is one of the most commonly

known and popularly used forms of computer software.
These software come in forms of tools that assist a
programmer in writing computer programs. Computer
programs are sets of logical instructions that make a
computer system perform certain tasks. The tools that
help the programmers in instructing a computer system
include text editors, compilers and interpreters.

System Software: It helps in running the computer

hardware and the computer system. System software is a
collection of operating systems; devise drivers, servers,
windowing systems and utilities. System software helps
an application programmer in abstracting away from
hardware, memory and other internal complexities of a
computer.
Application Software: It enables the end users to
accomplish certain specific tasks. Business software,
databases and educational software are some forms of
application software. Different word processors, which are
dedicated for specialized tasks to be performed by the
user, are other examples of application software.

Apart from these three basic types of software, there are

some other well-known forms of computer software like
inventory management software, ERP, utility software,
accounting software and others. Take a look at some of
them.

Inventory Management Software: This type of software

helps an organization in tracking its goods and materials
on the basis of quality as well as quantity. Warehouse
inventory management functions encompass the internal
warehouse movements and storage. Inventory software
helps a company in organizing inventory and optimizing
the flow of goods in the organization, thus leading to an
improved customer service.

Utility Software: Also known as service routine, utility

software helps in the management of computer hardware
and application software. It performs a small range of
tasks. Disk defragmenters, systems utilities and virus
scanners are some of the typical examples of utility
software.

Data Backup and Recovery Software: An ideal data backup

and recovery software provides functionalities beyond
simple copying of data files. This software often supports
user needs of specifying what is to be backed up.

• SYSTEM AND APPLICATION SOFTWARES

The Operating System is the System Software that makes
the Computer work. We can say that an Operating System
(OS) is Software that acts as an interface between you
and the hardware. It not only contains drivers used to
speak the hardware's language, but also offers you a very
specific graphical user interface (GUI) to control the
computer. An OS can also act as an interface (from the
hardware) to the other software. A complex OS like
Windows or Linux or Mac OS offers the services of an OS,
but also has applications built in. Solitaire, Paint,
Messenger, etc. are all applications.

Application software is the software that you install onto

your Operating System. It consists of the programs that
actually let you do things with your computer. These
Applications are written to run under the various
Operating Systems. These include things like your word
processing programs, spread sheets, email clients, web
browser, games, etc. Many programs, such as most of the
Microsoft Office suite of programs, are written in both Mac
and Windows versions, but you still have to have the right
version for your OS.

***The End***